Monday, July 12, 2010 Part I

Let the road trip begin..............................

Skinny Sister and I and the 7 children that will be going on the road trip get up. We have a good breakfast of eggs, bacon, and muffins. YUMMY!

We pack the van and skinny sister has this mastered beautifully. There is food aplenty, clothing and all of the fun essentials. We are running a little bit behing our self imposed schedule but it is all going to be fine. The nephew with his learners permit starts out behind the wheel. I should revise and say the jokester nephew with his learners permit. We are only about a block from the house when jokester says he forgot his contacts. I am thinking great, we are very close to home. At least we are not half way there. But skinny sister knows him well. She verifies that it is a joke and we are still on our way. No return for forgotten items. WHEW!!!

I enjoy this scenery. It has been a while since I have seen fields of green and gold. Vegetables, corn, sugar beets, beans, wheat. Very nice! We get going and I think nephew is doing great but the kids are watching a movie that I think he wants to see. My turn behind the wheel. Yeah!!!!!!!!!!

Okay for folks that don't know me, I drive the speed limit. I have discovered that this obedience to the LAW is very perterbing to people that ride with me. Both in CA and now in ID. Skinny Sister threatens me on several occasions that if I don't at least drive the speed limit, I will be banned from driving. So on one of the first opportunities (rest stop) she takes over behind the wheel. I think it is VERY FUNNY!!! (side note: I have a friend in CA that won't go out to lunch or anything if I am driving. She thinks I drive like a granny :-))

We stop in a little town I can't remember the name for a potty break. There is a small playground. We stay for about 15 mins. Then back on the road. Later we stop in Grangeville and have lunch, potty breaks and playground time for about 1/2 hour. Then back on the road.

The mountain and river scenery is a treat and I am enjoying in immensely. The kids are doing great. As expected there are a few irritating moments between them but it is a long road trip in a very confined space. They are doing awesome!

We arrive in Elk City in the early afternoon. Dad is out on a mail run. So Mom suggests that we take the kids to the "park". The "park" is a veteran's memorial and there is a stream that we can all play in. We have a lot of fun getting wet and cooled off. The kids enjoy letting out some energy. I find a periwinkle in the stream. I take a picture of it and when it starts coming out of its shell I scream. They really are UGLY critters. So my sweet Elk City nephew holds it for me to take a picture of the periwinkle coming out of it's shell. He throws it back into the river for me. We find an empty shell and I keep it as a souvenier. Back into the stream to try to catch some minnows. One of my sweet nephews catches a minnow in a plastic container. I take some pictures and we let him go back to his home in the stream.

Unfortunately, one of my sweet nieces stepped on a piece of glass or a sharp rock or something. The cut on her foot is pretty deep. She is sad and in pain. I wish there was something to do for her. Luckily for us, my brother in law in Elk City is an EMT. We take her to him. He sterilizes it and puts a butterfly bandage on it. Then my sister has some pet bandage to wrap it all up. It is good for now with some aspirin for the pain.

We all pile in the back of mom's truck and go up the main road to see Mountain Mama (Twin Sister of Skinny Sister). It was great to see where she works. Beautiful vistas everywhere.

Back in the truck and we make it back to mom and dad's home to see dad and start getting ready for dinner. Dinner is at the fire pit out back. It is a beautiful fire pit with stones around it. The only concern for me is all of the little ones. I really get nervous with little ones around fire pits. Always have and probably always will. We roast hotdogs, hamburgers, and turkey burgers. Skinny Sister made a pasta salad that we brought with us to share. There are chips and soda. I mention that it would be great if we had some marshmallows.

One of my wonderful nephews surprised us by going to the store and getting all of the fixings for SMORES!!!! How wonderful was that?!!! YUMMY YUMMY. A true roasting feast!